Yellowstone is a national park located in the United States of Wyoming (96%), Montana(3%) and Idaho(1%). It is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. It was established by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. The park is 63 miles north to south, and 54 miles west to east by air. The climate is greatly influenced by altitude. Yellowstone is considered to be the first national park in the world. The region was inhabited by Native Americans for 11,000 years before it began to be explored in the 1860s. Lewis and Clark bypassed the region during their expedition in the early 1800s. Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 square miles—over 2.2 million acres—comprising lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges. Eighty percent of the land is covered by forest, 15% is grassland, and 5% is water. The park contains 322 species of birds and at least 16 species of fish. The park has around 10,000 thermal features, including about 500 geysers, as well as hot springs and mudpots. The most popular geyser is Old Faithful and it was the first geyser in the park to be named. It erupts like clockwork every 91 minutes. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, often called Yellowstone Supervolcano, the largest supervolcano on the continent.
The volcano is found above an intraplate hot spot that has been feeding the magma chamber underneath Yellowstone for at least two million years. The center of the caldera rose by as much as 86 centimeters between 1923 and and 1984, and then subsided again between 1985 and 1989, due to changing pressure. It measures 34 miles by 44 miles.
Three enormous eruptions occurred at the Yellowstone hotspot 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago. The eruption at Yellowstone 2.1 million years ago is thought to have released 2,450 cubic kilometers of material, whereas the eruption at Yellowstone 640,000 years ago is thought to have released about 1,000 cubic kilometers of material. Scientists obtain these estimates by looking at the thickness of deposits surrounding the volcano. The last known eruption of a supervolcano on Earth occurred at Lake Taupo in New Zealand 26,500 years ago.
If such an eruption were to happen at Yellowstone, it would have catastrophic consequences. One study estimated that another supervolcanic eruption at Yellowstone would cover North America in ash. It would damage crops, lead to food shortages, and pollute our air and water.
Lots of scientists think that it is unlikely that another supervolcanic eruption will occur at Yellowstone anytime soon, for example, in the next few thousand years. The Yellowstone hotspot is being monitored with numerous instruments that can detect precursors to eruptions such as earthquake swarms that indicate magma is moving beneath the surface.
Anna Uhrhammer is a student at Mabel-Canton High School. She is one of eight area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its eighteenth year.
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